United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois selects two new magistrate judges

Oak Parker one of two selected

Chief Judge James F. Holderman today announced that Daniel Martin and Mary Rowland have been selected by the district judges of the Northern District of Illinois to be United States Magistrate Judges, filling two upcoming vacancies. The two vacancies were created earlier this year when Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow and Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan each announced that they plan to retire on October 1, 2012.

In January 2012, over sixty-five individuals applied for the open positions. The 2012 Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel reviewed the qualifications of the applicants and made recommendations to the district judges of the court, who interviewed each of the recommended finalists and selected the two new United States Magistrate Judges last evening.

Chief Judge James F. Holderman stated: "We look forward to welcoming each of these outstanding attorneys as United States Magistrate Judges on our court. Our 2012 Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel did an excellent job of screening the applicants. Each of the recommended finalists was well-qualified to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge. We district judges were very fortunate to have had such excellent candidates from whom to choose our district's next United States Magistrate Judges."

Chief Judge Holderman stated that he intends to have each of the newly selected United States Magistrate Judges join the court on October 1, 2012.

Daniel Martin received his law degree from IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law. Mr. Martin is a Supervising Staff Attorney with the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois and has practiced in federal court for twenty-eight years. He has represented clients charged with violations of federal criminal statutes, subpoenaed as grand jury witnesses, or under investigation by the United States Attorney's Office or another federal law enforcement agency. Mr. Martin has experience with cases beginning at the investigative stage and continuing through the negotiation stage to trial or guilty plea, to sentencing, and through the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Supreme Court of the United States.

Mary Margaret Rowland received her law degree from the University of Chicago. She is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym Ltd. in Chicago. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Rowland spent 10 years in the Federal Defender Program in the Northern District of Illinois, where she gained experience in all aspects of federal criminal cases, including bond hearings, suppression motions, plea negotiations, trials, and appeals. From 1988 until 1990, she served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Julian Abele Cook, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Ms. Rowland has spoken and written on federal criminal practice and the federal sentencing guidelines.

The Northern District of Illinois has twelve active United States Magistrate Judges in Chicago and one in Rockford. The new magistrate judges will be headquartered in the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse in Chicago.